Pianoforte



qLINI'IED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS H. BROWNE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PIANOFORTE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,383, dated September 23, 1851.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LOUIS H. BRowNE, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pianofortes, and that the following description, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to,forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein I have setforth the nature and principles of my said improvements by which myinvention may be distinguished from others of a similar class, togetherwith such parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by LettersPatent.

My improvements are represented as applicable to what are called grandpiano fortes, and are made upon, or in the sounding board iron frames,and action thereof,

`although they may be introduced, especially those which rela-te to theaction, as herein after specified, into the square pianos.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan or top view of a grand piano forte,with the top cover entirely removed, and a single string only beingshown therein. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same,taken in the plane of the line A B, Fig. l; the legs and pedals beingdispensed with in this View. Fig'. 3, is a detail plan of a subsidiaryiron frame combined with the main iron frame, for strengthening the.wooden frame of the instrument, and preventing it from crippling, andFig. 4 is a plan of the wooden frame work, inverted or of the under-sideof the same, on one half of the scale of the other figures, and Fig. 5is a side elevation of my improved action.

aaa@ in Figs. l, 2 and 4 represents the wooden framework of theinstrument, braced for the purpose of resisting the strain of thestrings, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 or in any other desirable manner.

Zibb is the sounding board of the shape shown in Fig. l, and set on awooden frame @ce around its edges, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l,and secured to the main framework aaa at the severa-l points indicated,and by the screws (ldd, passing through the edge frame ccc, as shownalso by dotted lines in Fig. l.

This sounding board, and its frame ccc it will be perceived byinspection of Fig. 2, do not touch any part of the framework, except thepoints of confinement before referred to at ddd, and therefore it isleftfree to vibrate or formed with a spring as it were, much more, thanby the modes of construction and arrangement for the same, now in use.It is however necessary to sus tain it, in order to make its vibrationsperfect, at or about the center of the curved part thereof, and this Ido by connecting it on its under side, to the outer end of the bent armor lever jf, Fig. 2 which is confined to the framework aaa, by the screwg, by which the said arm or lever may be confined in any desiredposition, and made to bear with greater or less force on said soundingboard, so that said sounding board may be strained in a manner similarto that in which a drum head is strained, or so as to produce a similareffect.

MIJ is the subsidiary iron fra-me, before referred to, constructed inthe form shown in Fig. 3, and secured to the framework ma just aboutwhere the hammers strike the strings, spaces or openings being left atfor the action of said hammers. The front rail of said frame is formedwith an elongated rectangular socket, into which is fitted and firmlyglued, a long wooden block 7c, fastened by screws to the underside ofthe front rail of the regular iron frame ZZZ, which extends all aroundthe instrument.

By this arrangement or combination of two iron frames, great additionalstrength is secured to the whole instrument, and especially to that partthereof, where the hammers strike the strings.

I have made also an improvement in the upper iron frame, which consistsin so casting the iron bridge mm, on which the strings are strained,with or to the front rail of said frame, by means of the suspensionbrackets mm, as that the said bridge is raised, so as to be above thelevel of the boty tom of said frame, and the strings may be strainedunder the same, as shown in section in Fig. 2.

The action which I have devised in my improvements may be termed areversedacthe escapement of the said ily, from the saidv center block,and prevent any snapping of the same. Also in arranging the back catchso called, on the end of a lever, having a fulcrum in said jack, sothatit may act not only to catch the hammer, but also to operate thesame, in repeating rapidly on one string of the instrument.

My said improvements are represented in Fig. 5, as before stated, inwhich 00 represents the key lever, to one part of which the jack y) isconfined, g is the fly of said jack, arranged with a spring r in theusual way, so as to carry itunder the notch in the center' block s ofthe hammer, of which tt is the stem, and u the head. The escapement ofthe fly of the jack is effected by means of the arm a', and regulatingbutton Z2, operating in the usual manner, which will be readilyunderstood by inspection of Fig. 5. The spring for easing saidescapement is shown at cc being coiled a little, where it is attached tothe underside of the hammer stem, and then bent downward, and curved atits end, which bears against a groove formed in the front of the centerblock, and operates to effect its purpose, in a manner which will beunderstood by inspection of the drawing Fig. 5.

The back catch CZ is secured in the front end of a lever e 7L', whichpasses through the bottom of the jack, and has a. fulcrum therein, asshown at f Fig. 5. Its rear end projects out beyond the back of the jack, and under the rail g, and when the jack is raised, the end 7L ofthe lever e 7L abuts against the rail g', and causes the back catch Z tofollow the hammer, as it moves to strike the string z", the upper edgeof said catch fitting under the ledge 7c', formed in the front of thehammer, as shown in Fig. 5, and if it is desired to repeat the stroke ofthe hammer', before the fly of the jack gets under the center block ofthe hammer for the purpose, a second stroke or touch on the key leverwill carry the hammer up quickly again, by the action of this back catchon the hammer as set forth.

One other improvement which I have made in the action, consists insubstitutinga asse piece of gutta percha on the top of the hammer inlieu of some of the leather coverings thereof, as shown at Z in Fig. 5;one or two layers of leather being used above the gutta percha as'shownat m. By this improvement a more brilliant tone is secured than can beprocured by the modes o-f covering the hammer heads as now practised.

Having thus described my improvements, l shall state my claims, asfollows:

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to have secured to me byLetters Patent, is:

l. Arranging the sounding board in a springing form, and supporting itsback on a straining lever, made to bear with more or less force againstit, in the manner and for the purpose herein above specified.

2. I claim the combination of the short subsidiary iron frame, having arectangular socket on its front rail, with the long main iron frame,having a wooden block on the .under side of its front rail, which fit-sand is glued into the aforesaid socket, as herein before set forth.

3. I claim casting the bridge of the long iron frame, with curvedbrackets so as to have it raised above the level of the bottom of thefront rail of said frame, and permit the strings to be strained, orstrung under the same, as herein above explained.

4. l claim easing the escapement of the fly of the jack, from under thecenter block, of the hammer, by means of a spring, combined with saidblock, and the stem of the hammer as herein above stated.

5. l claim arranging the back catch on a lever, having a. fulcrum in thejack, and arranged so as to cause the catch to follow the hammer, in astroke of the same, and cause it to repeat the stroke or note ifdesired, when the fly of the jack fails to operate, so as to effect saidsecond stroke.

G. I claim using a piece of gutta percha on the top of 'the hammer head,in lieu of some of the layers of leather, in the manner and for thepurpose specified.

LOUIS H. BROWNE.

Witnesses EZRA LINCOLN, HENRY F. CoNAN'r.

